In Charis & Charis [2026] FedCFamC1A 92, the Full Court dismissed the husband’s property appeal and upheld an equal division of a property pool exceeding $127 million. The major asset was the husband’s shares and options in D Company, a valuable United States technology company he co-founded. The husband argued that the company’s dramatic post-separation increase in value was attributable to his post-separation work and should have produced a 70/30 division in his favour. The Full Court rejected that argument, holding that the primary judge was entitled to assess contributions holistically over the whole relationship and was not required to quarantine the D Company interests into a separ

In Hong & Lai (No 2) [2026] FedCFamC1A 125, Riethmuller J allowed the appellant’s appeal after finding that the refusal of an adjournment denied him a real opportunity to present his case. The appellant was part-way through a property trial when the matter was adjourned. On the resumed hearing date, his lawyers did not appear, his Legal Aid position was unresolved, and s 102NA prevented him from personally cross-examining the respondent. The primary judge refused an adjournment, proceeded with the hearing, and dismissed the appellant’s property application. On appeal, that refusal was found to have affected the final result and caused a miscarriage of justice.🧩 Facts and IssuesFacts:The

In Pandeva & Pandeva [2026] FedCFamC2F 882, Deputy Chief Judge Mercuri made final parenting orders for a nine-year-old child conceived through egg donation. The central dispute was not risk in either parent’s household, but how the child should be supported to understand her donor conception, what language should be used around the donor and the donor’s children, and whether the father should be permitted to continue facilitating the child’s relationship with the donor’s children. The Court maintained the existing 5 nights per fortnight arrangement with the father, refused the father’s proposed progression to equal shared care, ordered joint decision-making, and required the parents to e

In Lawrence & Stephanidi [2026] FedCFamC1A 115, the Full Court allowed the mother’s appeal in part. The mother failed to overturn the orders restraining her from relocating internationally with the children and failed to disturb the broader interim parenting pathway increasing the father’s time. But she succeeded on an important point: the mandatory therapy orders and the automatic reversal-of-care order were set aside. The Court held that the self-executing change of care was unreasonable and plainly wrong, and that the therapy orders were impermissible stand-alone orders not properly tethered to a parenting order.🧩 Facts and IssuesFacts:The parties had two young children, aged five and

In Steinar & Steinar [2026] FedCFamC1A 113, McClelland DCJ dismissed the mother’s application for the Court to provide trial and case management transcripts at public expense, but partially allowed her alternative application by dispensing with the requirement that she obtain and file transcript. The result was important: the mother did not get publicly funded transcript, but her appeal was not deemed abandoned merely because she could not provide it. The Court accepted that transcript may be relevant to some of her procedural unfairness and bias arguments, but held that her request was disproportionate, insufficiently supported by financial evidence, and weakened by prolix and poorly pa

In Falvo & Melita (No 2) [2026] FedCFamC1A 108, Campton J dismissed two Applications in an Appeal brought by a self-represented appellant in a de facto relationship appeal. The appellant wanted the Court to fund five days of transcript from an eight-day trial, or alternatively dispense with transcript altogether. She also sought review of procedural orders made by an appeal judicial registrar, including removal of the registrar from the matter and adjournment of the appeal. The Court refused to fund the transcript, rejected the natural justice arguments, dismissed the review application, but made the practical order that the appellant did not have to provide the transcript and could stil

In Harridan & Harridan [2026] FedCFamC1A 104, the wife won her property appeal because the appeal court found the primary judge used the wrong method when assessing contributions. The trial judge had divided the case into separate contribution categories — initial contributions, contributions during the relationship, inheritance, and post-separation contributions — then effectively gave the wife only a 10% uplift for an inheritance that represented almost 50% of the existing property pool. Schonell J held that this compartmentalised approach was legally erroneous. Once that error was exposed, the appeal court was required to intervene, allow the appeal, and re-exercise discretion. The wi

In Gowden & Taggart [2026] FedCFamC1A 106, Schonell J dismissed the appellant’s Application in an Appeal seeking further expedition and asking the Court to meet the cost of transcript for an appeal against interim parenting orders involving a newborn child born through an altruistic surrogacy arrangement. The Court accepted the appellant had acted promptly and recognised the sensitivity of the matter, but held that the appeal was already listed within a little over two months, which effectively amounted to expedition. The Court also held that a transcript was not required because the interim hearing proceeded on the papers, there was no cross-examination, and the grounds of appeal challe

In Fowles (No 3) [2026] FedCFamC1A 103, the Full Court granted limited leave to appeal where the applicant was subject to a harmful proceedings order and sought to challenge contravention orders that imposed a conditional 12-month term of imprisonment. The central issue was whether the primary judge should have applied the **criminal standard of proof — beyond reasonable doubt — rather than the civil standard — balance of probabilities — before making orders that could result in imprisonment. Leave was granted only on that ground. The other proposed grounds were rejected as irrelevant, misconceived, lacking reasonable prospects, or insufficiently particularised.🧩 Facts and IssuesFacts:The ap

In Rocchi & Hadak [2026] FedCFamC1A 100, Williams J dismissed the father’s appeal from final parenting orders that provided for the children to live with the mother, the mother to have sole decision-making responsibility except as to the children’s names, and the father to spend initially supervised time with the children after family therapy, progressing later to unsupervised time. The appeal failed because the father’s grounds and Summary of Argument did not properly identify appealable error. Instead, they were dense, repetitive, overlapping and largely attempted to re-agitate the case he had run unsuccessfully at trial.🧩 Facts and IssuesFacts:The parties had two children. After separ

In Rocchi & Hadak [2026] FedCFamC1A 100, Williams J dismissed the father’s appeal from final parenting orders that provided for the children to live with the mother, the mother to have sole decision-making responsibility except as to the children’s names, and the father to spend initially supervised time with the children after family therapy, progressing later to unsupervised time. The appeal failed because the father’s grounds and Summary of Argument did not properly identify appealable error. Instead, they were dense, repetitive, overlapping and largely attempted to re-agitate the case he had run unsuccessfully at trial.🧩 Facts and IssuesFacts:The parties had two children. After separ

In Rockford & Burnell [2026] FedCFamC1A 99, Strum J mostly dismissed the husband’s appeal from an indemnity costs order requiring him to pay the wife’s costs of the financial proceedings. The husband had been ordered to pay $171,900 on an indemnity basis, principally because of his litigation conduct, false evidence, non-disclosure, collateral pressure on the wife and her solicitor, and unreasonable rejection of offers. The appeal succeeded only on a small mathematical correction, reducing the amount to $164,700. Because the husband’s success was minor and the wife conceded the error once identified, he was still ordered to pay the wife’s appeal costs, with the $7,200 overpayment set off